When she was a critical care nurse, Zhan Liang watched many patients leave the intensive care unit with a lot of challenges and recovery time ahead of them. She wondered if there was a cost-effective way to speed up the time it takes for those patients to recover strength, mobility and the ability to breathe on their own.

Now an assistant professor at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, Liang is leading a research team in a pilot study to answer the following question: Would specially designed instrumental playlists help motivate patients to perform the exercises that will help them recover?

Liang worked with music therapists (including some from UM’s Frost School of Music) to write pieces that use rhythm to remind patients when to do certain movements, such as lift an arm or clench a fist. They customized playlists for each patient’s musical tastes and the pace of their exercise routine.

ARTS

Developer Jorge Perez’s family foundation will donate $1 million each year to support arts groups in Miami-Dade through its CreARTE Grants Program, which is a partnership with the Miami Foundation.

BANKING

Miami-based Pacific National Bank is launching a digital-only bank in partnership with Miami-based fintech Nymbus.

Brazil-based Banco Bradesco will acquire BAC Florida Bank, which is based in Coral Gables, in a deal valued at about $500 million. BAC Florida is part of Nicaragua-based Grupo Pellas.

Illinois-based First American Bank plans to acquire Miami-based Continental National Bank, the first Cuban-American-owned bank in the U.S. First American acquired Bank of Coral Gables in 2014.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Ultra Music Festival, which draws more than 100,000 people a year, terminated its contract with Miami after 18 years in the city. Organizers said festival guests had too many complaints about the Virginia Key location where the city moved the festival this year. They hope to stay in Miami-Dade and plan to work with other cities. Earlier this year, hiphop festival Rolling Loud moved from downtown Miami to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Formula 1 also recently abandoned its plan to hold a Grand Prix race in the city.

Live Nation will open a Miami office in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.

HEALTH CARE

Florida International University and Tel Aviv University will partner to test a new treatment for child social anxiety disorder, funded by a $5.2-million National Institutes of Mental Health grant.

HOSPITALITY

Miami Beach’s second food hall, Time Out Market Miami, opened. It is the first Time Out Market in North America.

Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International, which owns Miami- based Burger King and Popeyes, plans to grow its different brands, which also include Tim Hortons, from 26,000 locations to 40,000 within 10 years.

Bungalows Key Largo, which opened in late 2018 as the Florida Keys’ first all-inclusive resort, is closed through the end of the year to rebuild after a fire in its main building.

Miami-Dade had a record 16.5 million overnight visitors in 2018, up 3.5% from 2017, and 15.6 million hotel room nights sold, up 1.4% from 2017. The county also hosted a record 6.8 million visitors who did not stay overnight. The top three countries for international visitors were Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, with 45% of international visitors coming from Latin America.

INNOVATION

Ernst & Young opened an innovation center in Miami, where it works with other companies to spur innovation and digital transformation, particularly in the hospitality and technology sectors. There are eight EY centers in the U.S.

REAL ESTATE

New York-based Lalezarian Properties purchased two acres of the Miami Worldcenter development just north of downtown Miami for $43 million.

Florida East Coast Industries, parent company of Virgin Trains USA (formerly Brightline), sold the office and retail portions of its MiamiCentral station to San Francisco-based Shorenstein Partners for $159.4 million.

TRADE

Doral-based Cool Holdings will purchase Salt Lake City-based Simply Mac, the largest Apple “premiere partner” in the United States, from parent company Game- Stop. After it adds Simply Mac’s 43 stores in 18 states, Cool Holdings will be Apple’s largest U.S. premium partner, with 46 stores in the U.S., six in Argentina and seven in the Dominican Republic, operating under the name OneClick. The company also announced that it raised $3.5 million from private investors.

TRANSPORTATION

Miami-based aviation company iAero Group acquired airline charter company Swift Air, which is based in Greensboro, N.C., and Phoenix. iAero Group’s other holdings include aircraft and engine leasing, maintenance, repair and overhaul.

Read more in Florida Trend's August issue.

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